Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Young People introduced the report stating this had been added to the agenda in response to a number of Member Enquiries relating to the closure of the Victoria Park One O’clock Club building and the scope for continued use of the building and activities provided for early years children within Victoria Park.

Councillor Hassell said the report outlined the history of the use of the building, the rationale for the decisions made and the collected record of the decision making process including information provided through responses to member enquiries.

Councillor Hassell said there were a number of issues regarding the suitability of the building for an Early Years setting. He referred to page 52 of the agenda which provided the history behind the stay and play sessions, the restructure and consultation process from 2011 onwards. Councillor Hassell said the decision to close the facility was taken after consultation with residents and service users. The building was not a value for money investment for further capital expenditure and as such it was agreed to be surplus to requirement.

Councillor Hassell referred to Appendix 15 and said outcomes for children had improved significantly with the Early Year offer being taken up by hard to reach families in more settings.

Ms Christine McInnes, Service Head for Education and Partnership referred to page 93 of the agenda pack and said it was important to understand the wider context of how the decision was made and the rationale behind it. She said the take up for early learning for 2, 3, and 4 year olds was relatively low and therefore money was invested to improve the Children Centres and the quality of service provided therein.

Information regarding the changes being proposed was in the public domain and pages 105 to 109 show the purpose of the consultation. Ms McInnes said there was no attempt to mislead the public. The key features on page 107 and the map on page 109 clearly show the impact the changes would have. She said as far back as 2016, the Victoria Park facility was at risk of closure. The briefing from the 14^th September 2016 at pages 167-180, shows the feedback from the consultation and how Olga School (Overland Children Centre) had come on stream. At that stage, it was clear there were insufficient number of staff to deliver early year provision through both Victoria Park and the Olga School sites. Appendix 7 and 8, pages 183 to 193 provide further information which was considered before a decision to close the Victoria Park facility was made.

Ms McInnes said the restructure of the Early Year Service had been successful, with improved quality of provision and better outreach to families. She said having Health Visitors in each Children Centre meant services were coordinated and accessible to more people. The decision to close the Victoria Park One O’clock Club was absolutely the right decision. She said no complaints had been received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4